Scenario: Developer miscommunication  


Two programmers, Robert and Jack, are looking at a prototype of a dialog box and
the desired output report:

Dialog Box	Output Report
First Name Last Name	Employee: JS

Robert:  Have you got the report to display intials yet?
Jack:  I'm working on it.  I need to know if the first name can have embedded blanks.
R: Why does it matter?
J: I want to know if there can be blanks in the first name.
R: Like what?
J: Like "Billy Bob" or "Peggy Sue"
R: Do people really have names like that?
J: They might.
R: Wouldn't that be a middle name?
J: I don't care! There's a blank in it!
R: Why does it matter if all you need is initials?
J: How else am I going to find the initials?
R: Just take the first character of each name.
J: How am I supposed to do that?
R: Can't you just use "charAt(0)"?
J: That will only get me "J".
R: Do the same thing for Smith.
J: That's why I need to know if there's no blanks in the first name.
R: Why?
J: So I can parse the string.
R: What are you parsing it for?
J: To look for a blank.
R: Why don't you just get the first character?
J: Cause we want BOTH initials.


What do you imagine the speakers are feeling at this point?
What can they do to clarify their confusion?

(Scroll down for student suggestions.)





















Student suggestions for clarifying communication:

• Say more detail than you think is necessary.
• Restate the other's position
• "Pretend I'm an idiot" and tell me all the details of your problem.
• Restart the conversation.
• Try to stay focused on problem, don't digress.
• Ask somebody else to listen and see if they can help clarify.